Closures are employed to selectively prevent or permit communication between the exterior and interior of a system (e.g., machine, equipment, containment system (including bottles and pouches), etc.) through an opening in the system. A typical closure includes a (1) receiving structure (e.g., a body, base, fitment, etc.) at an opening to the system interior, and (2) a closing element (e.g., a separable membrane, a lid, cover, overcap, etc.).
The receiving structure can typically be either (1) a separate structure that (a) can be attached at such a system opening, and (b) defines at least one access passage through the receiving structure for communicating through such a system opening with the interior of such a system, or (2) an integral structure that is a unitary portion of such a system and that defines at least one access passage through the integral structure such that the access passage functions as the opening, per se, to the system.
The closing element typically accommodates movement relative to the receiving structure access passage between (1) a fully closed position occluding the access passage, and (2) an open position at least partially exposing the access passage.
Various substances (including lotions, creams, food items, granules, liquids, powders, small articles, etc.) may be packaged in a rigid, flexible, or collapsible containment system (e.g., bottle, pouch, portable or stationary equipment, machines or other structures, etc.) having a closure that can he opened and closed. If the containment system is a bottle, pouch, or other such container, then such a container with the closure mounted thereon and the contents stored therein may be characterized as a “package.”
A closure for a system may provide an initial hermetic seal and/or may provide an initial tamper-evidency for indicating to a user that the closure integrity has been compromised. One type of such a closure includes a body having a discharge end defining at least part of the access passage (which could be, for example, a discharge flow passage) that is initially sealed closed with a separable membrane. The discharge end of the body may further be covered with a closing element that is a cap or lid that can be removed, or moved away, from the discharge end so as to “open” the discharge end and allow access to the separable membrane. Typically, a separation member, such as a pull tab or pull ring, extends from the membrane. The pull tab or ring projects above the membrane. The user initially grasps the pull tab or ring to pull the membrane so as to separate the membrane from the body discharge end at the access passage to establish communication between the exterior ambient environment and the interior of the container or other system to which the closure is mounted. A separation path (e.g., a tear path) defines the line of separation between the membrane and the remaining portion of the closure body.
Some closures with a separable membrane may be utilized in a system containing a fluent product that may be very viscous or not very viscous. This fluent product may coat the underside of the membrane. When a user grips the pull ring and tears away the separable membrane, the membrane may be carried away from the remaining portion of the closure body in a slinging motion. This separation of the membrane may fling off some of the fluent product coating the underside of the membrane, resulting in an undesirable splatter and mess. Further, when the user holds a package (e.g., bottle containing the fluent product) with one hand, and pulls the pull ring with the other hand to tear off the membrane, then the sudden release or separation of the membrane from the package may result in the recoil of the package and an undesirable ejection of the fluent product from the access passage of the closure body.
The inventors have found that it would be desirable to eliminate, or at least reduce, this unwanted slinging and/or ejection of the fluent contents by controlling the forces required to separate the membrane from the rest of the closure along the separation path.
It would additionally be beneficial if such an improved closure could be relatively easily operated to tear away the membrane, without requiring an unusually complex manipulation or series of manipulations.
It would also be beneficial if such an improved closure could be relatively easy to manufacture.
The inventors of the present invention have invented a novel structure for an improved closure for a system wherein the closure includes a tearable membrane and wherein the closure has advantageous features not heretofore taught or contemplated by the prior art.